The beginnings and development of a New Zealand music: The life ...

75
No.less deserving of praise were the
performers of this trio ••• "46
Whilst studying in London, 'Lilburn had made the acquaintance of
M ax H' 1nr1C 'h sen, 47 a d' 1rect d escen d ent 0 f t h e f am1 'I y t h a t , S1nce . 1867 ,
had been owners and administrative directors of the German publishing
house of Hinrichsen. Max Hinrichsen had settled in London in 1937 and
established the Hinrichsen Edition, a catalogue that was to specialize
1n . Br1t1s .. h' mUS1C, part1cu . 1 ar 1 y contemporary mUS1C. . 48 Max H1nr1chsen ,.
became interested in Lilburn's work during the process of building up
this catalogue, and offered to act as Lilburn's publisher and agent.
Hinrichsen's first act as Lilburn's agent was to purchase the rights of
Aotearoa Overture from Lilburn. 49
In actual fact, only the eventual publication of the parts of
String Trio in 1953 50 resulted from Lilburn~s relationship with
Hinrichsen, and H·inrichsen's work as- Lilburn's agent resulted in only a
few performances of Lilburn's works, mainly Aotearoa Overture, in England.
Throughout the 1940s Hinrichsen kept in sporadic contact with
Lilburn. The tone of his letters through this time was usually hearty,
but apologetic for not being able to report success in his efforts at
promoting Lilburn's music.
Hinrichsen endeavoured to have Lilburn's
Sonatina for piano (1946) published, but found the projected printing
costs of £50-£60 and the projected retail price of 3/6d too high to
justify commercially continuing with the project. Hinrichsen also tried,
again without success, to persuade theBBC to perform Lilburn's Song of
the Antipodes.
One success that Hinrichsen was able to report to
Lilburn was that he finally arranged for Colin Horsley to play the
Sonatina for piano at a Wigmore Hall recital in November of 1947. 5J
46 Unsourced clipping, photocopy with author.
47 Lilburn had met Hinrichsen at a rehearsal of Aotearoa Overture for
the New Zealand Centenary Matinee ,in London. Hinrichsen had been
. especially--:i.nvited'· to the rehearsa-i by Warwick Braithwaite. .(Douglas
Lilburn in correspondence with author 29 July 1983.)
48 John Neal, Music publishing and its future. The Publisher no.3,
March J964:J3.
49 Douglas Lilburn in correspondence with author 29 July 1983.
50 According to Lilburn, ibid, Hinrichsen published the parts of String
Trio n ••• without advising me or referring proofs to me. Since he'd
~thework,edited .bysomeonewho -altered-phrasing-'and metronome
mark of the 2nd mvt, I was decidedly cool and sent him nothing
further." String Trio was later absorbed into the Price Milburn
Music catalogue.
51 Douglas Lilburn, correspondence with Max Hinrichsen 1946-8, housed
at Alexander Turnbull Library.